Talking Vikings' Schedule, Lambeau
Vikings placekicker Ryan Longwell,
who played nine seasons for the Packers, was asked about the importance
of the opening game. “It will be huge,” he said. “You want to start
off playing well and you want to start off crisp and executing. But I
think to make it bigger than it is would be a mistake because it’s a
long, long season. …”
After the Packer game, the Vikings play
Indianapolis and Carolina at home, before a road game at Tennessee.
Those are all expected to be winning teams this season.
“Well, without question, it’s a tough
stretch, but I think two things,” Longwell said. “One, to look past
Monday is to make a huge mistake because they’re going to give us
everything we can handle and then some on Monday night.
"Then the other side of it is if you look
too far down the road it ends up costing you games you should be able to
win. And you don’t ever want to do that, you look back with regret. …”
Gus
Frerotte, the Vikings’ 37-year-old reserve quarterback, still gets excited
about opening games and enjoys the atmosphere at Lambeau Field, a pro
football shrine with its boisterous fans and tradition as home to
legendary players and teams. “Yeah, Lambeau is great to play in,” he
said. “It’s a lot of fun. Just seeing the people, the fans how they get
into the game. ...(Hopefully)
everybody (in the NFL) gets to play there once.”
What kind of welcoming party does Frerotte
expect? “Not a good one,” he said.
The crowd, though, won’t be coming on the
field. “…When the whistle blows you get ready to work
because when you’re between those lines none of those 80,000 people, or
how many are going to be there, can be out there,” he said. “It’s just
you versus them. That’s it.”
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